Sex
Talk

Does It Matter if
I'm Circumcised

Q from a Male, sophomore student at UNC:
Does it matter whether or not I'm circumcised
to a woman?

Dr. Caron's Answer: You raise a really
good question. I think it's fairly common for men
to worry about the look of their penis -especially
when it comes to circumcision. I read somewhere
that about 80% of American males have a circumcised
penis, whereas 80% of European males have an
uncircumcised penis. So if you are uncircumcised,
your partner might not be used to seeing a penis
with the foreskin still intact. I do think it would
be important to mention the difference and assure
her of the normalcy of it all. Most women do not
find things like penis shape or size to be an issue
when it comes to the sexual interaction. It's
important to know there is no relationship between
circumcision of a man's penis and his ability to
have sexual intercourse or to excite his partner.
An uncircumcised penis will not make a woman have
an orgasm any more than a circumcised one will.

(Editor's note: Actually, less than 70% of
U.S. males are circumcised, and in California, it's
less than 40% while in Great Britain only 0.4% are
circumcised. One of many reasons not to be
circumcised is the loss of the man's sexual arousal
over time. There are over 18,000,000 impotent men
in the U.S. and another 16,000,000 who lack sexual
desire. )

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It is not sex that gives the pleasure, but the
lover. - Marge Piercy

American teens have the worst of all
worlds...Our children are bombarded and confronted
with sexual messages, sexual exploitation, and all
manner of sexual criticism. But our society is by
and large sexually illiterate. Faye Westheimer